Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stock Position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in American Water Works by 1,131.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,438,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $210,313,000 after buying an additional 1,321,320 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in American Water Works by 4,227.0% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 711,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 695,474 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in American Water Works by 268.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 537,138 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after buying an additional 391,166 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Water Works in the 3rd quarter worth $43,872,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Water Works by 129.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 502,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,470,000 after purchasing an additional 283,579 shares in the last quarter. 86.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AWK has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded American Water Works from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Water Works from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Water Works has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

American Water Works Stock Up 3.1 %

AWK opened at $132.63 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.63. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $113.34 and a 52 week high of $150.68. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.09. American Water Works had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.765 per share. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. American Water Works’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.77%.

American Water Works Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.